Siliguri Institute of Technology. The hotel will be set up near the institute

Siliguri, March 6: Siliguri will soon have another three-star hotel in its vicinity.

Techno India Group, which runs a chain of public schools and institutions for technical and professional courses, will set up the hotel near its Siliguri Institute of Technology (SIT), 6km from here.

“We have acquired a three-acre plot near the institute where we are planning to set up the hotel,” said T.K. Chatterjee, director, Techno India Group. “It will be a hotel offering three-star facilities. Although the basic objective is to give our own students hands-on training, the hotel will have commercial viability also given its location and a growing demand for good staying options in and around Siliguri.”

“Last year, we had acquired The Retreat in Darjeeling from the Welcome Group and renovated it. But it is the first time that we are constructing a hotel on our own” said Chatterjee.

At present, there are two three-start hotels in Siliguri —Sinclairs and Cindrella.

Chatterjee also said SIT was planning to start short-term courses for middle-level professionals from the hospitality industry.

“In this region, which is largely dependant on tourism, there is a need for such courses, especially for middle-level management,” said Chatterjee. “The modalities of short-term tailor-made courses are being chalked out and we hope that we will be able to start as soon as possible.”

Also on the anvil is a three-year degree course in hospitality management to attract more students. SIT now offers a four-year BTech course in hotel management and catering technology. Although 60 students can be admitted to the course, only a little more than half of it are enrolled at present.

A two-day national seminar on changing scenario in hospitality management, which began at the institute today, saw experts in different aspects of the sector explain the topic to the students. The experts are from places like Calcutta, Delhi, Lucknow and Guwahati.